Hot for teacher? Or sizzling for student?

Mary Kay Latourneau. Debra Lafave. Pamela Smart. What do these three women have in common? They were school teachers who had sex with students. They admitted to what they did. However, one case in Texas had me scratching my head.

I recently watched a two part series about Joelle Ogletree, a teacher from Texas, who was accused of having sexual relations with male students. According to Ogletree, the boys who made the accusations were lying. In fact, all three boys failed the polygraph test. But, when Matt, one of the boys, confronted her on the show, his story was so vivid and convincing. Ogletree did not address the sexual acts Matt accused her of, but argued about a peripheral issue, such as timing and when she did or didn’t turn off her car headlights. Something sounded awfully fishy on her part.

Aside from this Dr. Phil episode, what drives certain teachers to have sexual relations with their students? I teach adults at my part time job and I have absolutely no interest in dating them. In a K-12 setting – unthinkable!

Is there any way administrators screen prospective teachers and monitor current teachers to make sure that our children are safe? How can teachers be protected from being falsely accused of sexual harassment and molestation?